Abstract: A method for dynamically assigning a displayable realm name begins upon receipt of an authentication request to an application, such as a web application, being executed by an application server. In response, a determination is made whether an application realm name has been set in a configuration file associated with the application. If not, a custom display property is then evaluated. If the custom display property is set true, a realm name associated with an active authentication mechanism is retrieved and provided for display in an authentication panel. If the custom display property is set false, a default string is provided for display in the authentication panel. In this manner, an application server administrator can control what realm name is displayed to an end user in the event an application developer has not specified the realm name in the application configuration.

Abstract: A method is described for merging security constraints associated with an application when using security annotations. The application comprises one or more servlets, such as a Java servlet. During application deployment, a list of role names is generated by merging static security constraints, for example, identified in a deployment descriptor, and in a static security annotation that defines a list containing the names of authorized roles for a servlet. Later, during application runtime in an application server, security constraints are retrieved from a plurality of sources, including both dynamic and static security annotations. Using the list of role names and the security constraints retrieved, a set of merged security constraints having a defined and proper order of precedence is generated. In particular, preferably one or more dynamic security annotations are first merged with one or more static security annotations to generate a set of runtime constraints.

Abstract: A method is described for merging security constraints associated with an application when using security annotations. The application comprises one or more servlets, such as a Java servlet. During application deployment, a list of role names is generated by merging static security constraints, for example, identified in a deployment descriptor, and in a static security annotation that defines a list containing the names of authorized roles for a servlet. Later, during application runtime in an application server, security constraints are retrieved from a plurality of sources, including both dynamic and static security annotations. Using the list of role names and the security constraints retrieved, a set of merged security constraints having a defined and proper order of precedence is generated. In particular, preferably one or more dynamic security annotations are first merged with one or more static security annotations to generate a set of runtime constraints.

Abstract: A method for dynamically assigning a displayable realm name begins upon receipt of an authentication request to an application, such as a web application, being executed by an application server. In response, a determination is made whether an application realm name has been set in a configuration file associated with the application. If not, a custom display property is then evaluated. If the custom display property is set true, a realm name associated with an active authentication mechanism is retrieved and provided for display in an authentication panel. If the custom display property is set false, a default string is provided for display in the authentication panel. In this manner, an application server administrator can control what realm name is displayed to an end user in the event an application developer has not specified the realm name in the application configuration.

Abstract: The present invention provides a system and method for parsing a constraint language in a computer network. The method includes receiving a constraint string; parsing the constraint string, comprising replacement of valid operators, variables, and values with special characters; and determining if the parsed constraint string indicates the existence of errors in the constraint string. The parser of the present invention is based upon an analysis of the constraint language from which patterns of the language are identified. The easily implemented parser of the present invention is developed based on these patterns. Because the method of the present invention replaces members of a finite set of valid operators, variables, and values, instead of attempting to identify an infinite number of possible errors, it is able to detect all invalid constraints.